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In the Beginning…

Jan. 27 – Saw Slumdog Millionaire last night. “It is written.” I think it’s all a sign – we are meant to go to India. Before we went to China there were programs on TV about China. And now there’s a series about India. And now the best movie of the year is set in India. I can’t stop thinking about going there. The lawyers who make up the contract are out of office til next week due to Chinese New Year!! Can you believe it?

We’ve been looking at pictures of the neighbourhoods that expats live in and they look pretty nice, with a communal pool. So much to do if we really are going to go, need to speed up the process. Have to do a previsit, look into schools, housing, rent/sell our place, vaccinations. Most importantly keep a good attitude for the kids, really hope they will be positive. I just think this is an amazing opportunity and a good age schoolwise and to appreciate the culture. For me I hope to write and get involved in the community. Plus I’m going to love the heat. We joke around that the kids will be taking Bollywood dance lessons, Sitar lessons and Craig will be a cricket star.

Feb. 4 – Thinking about India all the time. Just want to burst open and tell everyone that we are going but can’t until we know for sure. No point getting everyone excited/upset until we know for sure. Although, Michael has told some of his family and a couple friends. But I guess I don’t want to talk about it too much until it is certain.

Took the kids to the dentist today and mentioned we might be moving for a couple years and he said, “That’s ok, there’s dentists everywhere.” But when I mentioned India he said, “Well, I don’t really recommend the dentists in India.” I guess he’s seen a few botched cases from there.

Michael talked to the Bangalore guys last night and they will try to find out if the contract is ready. Then we can book a pre visit for the end of March during and kids spring break. Not sure if we want to take the kids as we don’t want such a short trip (one week) to be a bad experience. Craig especially takes about a week to get acclimatized to the time change. When we went to China he fell asleep at the dinner table almost every night – poor kid. Alanna on the other hand managed very well. Also have to see about vaccinations.

Checked out some schools online. We would have to make arrangements to visit all the schools of course when we are there. So much to do, so little time. But I have such a strong feeling that we will be going I just want to get on with it and especially arrange the pre visit.

Feb. 11 – Still waiting for the contract. Hopefully we get it soon. We need to make so many arrangements just for the pre visit in March – if we go.

Feb. 20 – Michael received contract yesterday and it looks good. We have to go over it a bit more but looks like we will approve it and things should progress quickly. Received our invitations from the company in Bangalore for the whole family to go for a previsit. Today we are going to the travel clinic for consultation and possibly shots. I have printed out the Visa forms that we need to submit next week. Next thing will be to make appointments to view the different schools in Bangalore. We plan on going for the previsit during March break. First must make sure about vaccinations today.

Feb. 21 – Went for vaccinations yesterday. Spent about an hour going over the prevalent diseases, vaccines etc. Very thorough. Michael and I had to get two shots – didn’t hurt much at all but our arms have gotten sorer overnight. Alanna got off lucky with only one shot as she got her grade 6 vaccines this year – she was happy. Craig unfortunately has to get four shots. Got two yesterday and will get two more next week. We will also take an oral vaccine to ward off intestinal bugs (Dukoral) and take a broad spectrum antibiotic with us in case we do get quite sick. From our previous experience we know this is quite possible.

Today I sent off some emails to three of the international schools to make appointments to see them during our previsit. We’ve decided to stay at ITC Windsor Bengaluru which has great reviews. Another option was to stay in an apartment with maid/cook service. But decided that for this 2 week trip we want it to be more like a vacation with the kids. The hotel has a nice pool, restaurants etc. Looking forward to it.

Feb 23Our previsit has finally been approved!! Very exciting! We can finally tell people that we are going for the two weeks at spring break. Got responses from all the Bangalore schools yesterday and we have appointments for March 17, 18, 19. Spoke with the kids’ teachers today as they need to write a letter of recommendation for the schools. Spent yesterday photocopying report cards, filling in visa applications/school applications etc. Got the kids pictures taken today for visas. Things are looking good!

The real estate is one sector that features as one of the most badly hit sectors following the global economic meltdown. Especially in developing countries like India, where real estate was going great guns, so to say, faced a steep downfall following the recession and inflation. Especially in the metros and the developing cities like Bangalore, real estate suffered dearly as the demand for the residential units, though increasing became a pent up demand. The badly hit economy particularly the IT sector that has a strong foothold in Bangalore, and the high rates of interest in home loans made the demand for residential units go down or at best become a pent up demand. It is believed that once the situation stabilizes the demands would start surfacing. Another very problematic issue that the real estate dealers are facing is that patrons of the currently booked flats are not willing to pay the original price that they had agreed on but the current price that is less than the original amount owing to the current economic condition. Not only the residential units but the commercial properties like the < HREF="http://www.fortunehotels.in/HotelResort/main.aspx?ID=DHHb3ItTkhKdkJErdmRt7Q==&PType=6FrpaFUg4tzWXwacpHoKmg==" REL="nofollow">hotels in Bangalore<> have also naturally seen a drop in their occupancy. The < HREF="http://www.fortunehotels.in/HotelResort/main.aspx?ContentId=7a/M3GXJs+m4th9DGperCw==&HotelID=DHHb3ItTkhKdkJErdmRt7Q==" REL="nofollow">ITC hotels in Bangalore<> that registered the highest occupancy, as high as 83%, have been forced to cut down on their tariffs by almost 20% as the occupancy has also gone down by 20%. On the contrary, the < HREF="http://www.fortunehotels.in/HotelResort/main.aspx?ContentId=UqMaYf3ZSEKpjwYY9i/aLA==&HotelID=DHHb3ItTkhKdkJErdmRt7Q==" REL="nofollow">business hotels in Bangalore<> are surviving the tough times as the number of business travelers has not been affected as hard as the umber of leisure hotels. The < HREF="http://www.fortunehotels.in/HotelResort/main.aspx?ID=DHHb3ItTkhKdkJErdmRt7Q==&PType=6FrpaFUg4tzWXwacpHoKmg==" REL="nofollow">budget hotels in Bangalore<> have seen a hike owing to the obvious reasons.

Your blog reminds me of our journey to India when we relocated to Bangalore. At the beginning , we faced a hard time settling down but soon things went on quiet well. The most anxious moment was the time we spent on researching a school for my son .We also did an extensive research to find an appropriate international school for our child. The main thing we were looking for was that the school should provide education that matched the education which our child received in the US. After visiting a few international schools, we short-listed a couple of schools, in which Inventure Academy seemed to be the best. We did visit the school and liked its curriculum which is unique in its weave of inventive thinking, multiple intelligences and differentiated learning. Hope this is the best school for NRIs.

The Settling-in process is important. A child would need to feel safe, secure and confident to experience different cultures. And since they spend so much time in school, it is very important to pick the right school. A school that helps the transition for the children as smooth and as hassle-free as possible – to understand where they are coming from, and take it from there. I happened to speak to few of the recently graduated kids (IGCSE) from Inventure Academy, who were so happy they joined Inventure, they said they really looked forward to coming to schoo, everyday, meet their new friends and have a chat with their teachers. They said that they could do so well in their board exams only because the school gave them their space and guided them all at the same time.